Farming

=** Ancient Egyptian Farming ** = By:Shamyi and Yoosub 6B

The ancient Egyptians had very smart techniques of farming. Most of the farming was done by the peasants or slaves. One very important factor, which the Egyptians had for farming, was the River Nile. Without the Nile there wouldn’t have been farming because the yearly flood wouldn’t have covered the fields with water and the rich black soil wouldn’t have deposited into all the farming fields. __**Seasons of Farming **__ The seasons were very important to the farming process. The first season is the Flooding season, Ahket in Egyptian. Ahket is between June and September. Nobody farmed at this time because all the fields were flooded. Instead many farmers worked for the Pharaoh, building pyramids or temples. Some farmers spent time fixing tools and taking care of animals. The farmers would also go fishing to get extra money. The next season was the growing season. In Egyptian language they called it the Peret. This season was between October and February. In this season all the seeds were planted. The final season was the harvesting season. This was the Shemu. It was from March to May. All the fully grown plants were cut down and removed before the Nile River flooded again. The farmers also repaired their canals for the upcoming flood The most important crop was grain. They used grain to make bread, porridge, and beer. The Egyptians loved beer and produced plenty of it. Grain was the first crop they grew after the flood. Once grain was harvested they grew vegetables, such as onions, leeks, cabbages, lettuce, beans, and cucumbers. Also fruits such as melons, and grapes. The grapes were used to make wine. Farmers also planted fruit trees for fruit and vines along paths for shade. __**Watering Crops**__ If a Farmer wants to water his crops he needs to have a canal connected to a river. To lift the water from the canal you need a Shaduf. A Shaduf is a long pole balanced on a crossbeam with a rope and a bucket on one end and on the other end a heavy rock. When you pull the rope the bucket lowers into the canal when the rope was released slowly, the rock would raise the bucket. The farmer would then carry his bucket to his field and water it. **__Soil__** Egyptian farming land had very fertile soil. This soil was very easy to dig with tools. The soil was deposited on to the fields from the Nile when the flood went down, and therefore was fresh and excellent for plowing and planting the seeds.

**__Floods__** The Egyptians knew exactly when the floods were starting. How? Well, right before the floods came, flocks of white Ibises would appear over the fields on their way back from the south. If the Ibises came late or if they didn’t come at all the farmers thought that it was a bad omen and that the floods would be low and that there would be poor harvest. __ ** Animal ** __ Animals helped with jobs like trampling seeds, pulling plows, eating unwanted grain or wheat and providing the food and water. But having these animals may cause misfortune like if a donkey nibbled on someone else’s crop that farmer could threaten to take the donkeys owner to the court. If the animals were sick you had to do all work that they did. Also if the animals were not marked it may have been stolen. You had to take great care of animals and you had to give food, drink and had to count the cattle. Herdsman cattle past the overseer who counted, wrote down size of each cattle. Cattle were the most important livestock the administration collected taxes n livestock in regular censuses. The Egyptians believed that a balanced relationship between people and animals was an essential element. Animals domesticated and wild were therefore a critical source of spirituality. The Nile provided a plentiful source of fish. Bees were also domesticated from at least the Old Kingdom and they provided honey and wax. The worship of the gods in their animal from was extremely popular. __** Farming T ool **__  Ancient Egyptians had simple farming tools winnowing scoops, mattocks, flint bladed sickles and plows. The plows had a small blade that didn’t cut very deep which was fine because soil was fertile. The majority tools were made entirely out of wood or combination wood and stone. Some copper tools have also been found they had some metal tools too. __**<span style="font-size: 90%; color: #14146b; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">Pets **__ <span style="font-size: 80%; color: #245124; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; color: #245124; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">The Ancient Egyptians kept many animals as household pets, including cats, dogs, monkeys, gazelles, and birds. <span style="color: #245124; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">Pet monkeys and cats are often depicted on the walls of tombs, seated beneath the chair of their owner. These paintings often had magical properties, that these pets could join their masters after death. Care has been taken to ensure that the pets, like their owner. The cat has a large bowl provided while the monkey has its favorite fruits. The cat also has a wooden chair leg to scratch .The Ancient Egyptians also trained dogs, hawks, and mongooses to hunt with them. <span style="font-size: 14px; color: #14146b; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"> By: Yoo sub **__<span style="font-size: 160%; color: #14146b; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">Bibliography __** <span style="font-size: 120%; color: #245124; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">•en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt#Agriculture Farming •www.hillsboroschools.net%2Fschools%2Fhjhs%2Facadamics%2Fegyptianfair% 2Fzacw.htm •www.dragonstrike.com/egypt/farm.htm
 * By: Shamyi**

Written and designed by: Shamyi Yoosub